santiago calatrava

Chicago's Spire Is Kaput

It's looking like Chicago's much anticipated Spire won't be built. The plans for the dramatic Santiago-Calatrava-designed tower had it spiraling up 2,000 feet, making it the tallest building in the Western hemisphere. But now that Anglo Irish Bank Corp. has filed a $77 million foreclosure lawsuit against Irish real estate developer Garrett Kelleher it seems like the Spire will remain unbuilt, a symbol of ambition and aspiration that perhaps never completely lined up with reality. The project has 1,200 condos, around 30 percent of which were reported sold at one point including the penthouse, which was once priced at $40 million and bought by Ty Warner.

Ground was broken on the project in 2007 but construction had stalled out in 2008 when Calatrava filed a lien again Kelleher's Shelbourne Development Group. The lawsuit says that loans made to Kelleher's Shelbourne Development Ltd. matured a year ago and are in default. Anglo Irish Bank Corp. will likely take over the 2.2 acre piece of prime real estate.

The Chicago Tribune had reported last month that Calatrava has been working on an alternate plan, one that would involve two separate buildings and could be built in stages. That project might take advantage of the waterfront location to add a hotel, providing another potential revenue stream for the project. For now, though, a hole remains where a dream once was.

Tags: chicago real estate, chicago spire, santiago calatrava

Contstruction Stopped On The Chicago Spire

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

It is to be perhaps Chicago's most recognizable landmark, but first Santiago Calatrava's planned Chicago Spire has to get off the ground. The building of the dramatic swirl of a building is currently stalled out. Construction has stopped and the architect, Calatrava, has filed a lien against Shelbourne Development Group Inc,. the Irish developer of the 2,000-foot condominium tower, for $11.3 million.Perkins+Will, the Spire's architect of record, is also seeking nearly $4.85 million from Shelbourne. And the hits keep coming, Architectural Record also reports that New York-based Thornton Tomasetti, which worked with Calatrava on the project's structural engineering, has filed its own lien for $1.3 million. A spokeswoman for Shelbourne president Garrett Kelleher, says the developer is working to resolve the payment issue. The reason for the problem, it's the new old refrain of "the credit crunch" or as Kim Metcalfe, Kelleher's spokeswoman puts it: "We're waiting for the banks to start acting like banks again."

As we mentioned earlier this year, about 30 percent of the tower's 1,200 condominiums are sold, including the penthouse,which was originally priced at $40 million and bought by Beanie Babies magnate Ty Warner. I'd be very surprised if this project didn't get completed but I do think it's another one that will be majorly delayed.

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Tags: chicago, chicago spire, ChicagoSpire, santiago calatrava, SantiagoCalatrava

The Chicago Spire Is 30% Sold

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

More than ever it seems having a snappy website and a dramatic plan by a popular architect does not guarantee that a building will be built. But the developer behind one of the most ambitious projects in the U.S., the Chicago Spire, is saying that the Santiago Calatrava-designed building is a go. The developer says they have already sold 30 percent of the building's condo units, sending a strong signal that there is enough interest in the project despite the fact that the condos are priced higher than others in the city (the studio units start at $750,000) and that the developer has required 15 percent of a unit's price upfront for each sale.

The Shelbourne Development Group, has been financing construction but that will change later this year and so everyone will be watching to see what new lenders step forward to back the project. The Spire will have 1,194 units total including the still-for-sale $40 million penthouse. If all proceeds as planned, move in is set for 2012.

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Tags: chicago, condominium, condos, santiago calatrava, spire

Sales Begin at the Chicago Spire

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Luxury condos in one of the most anticipated buildings in the U.S. went on sale this week. CBS2 in Chicago reports that the sales office for the Chicago Spire is now open. The sales office is as posh as the condos themselves with designs created by the architect of the Spire, Santiago Calatrava. Residences at the 2,000-foot-tall Spire are price from $750,000 to $15 million each. I had my doubts about the building when I first heard about it in 2005 but was soundly rebuked by commenters who insisted that this building is exactly what Chicago needs. Despite the sky-high prices and a sluggish real estate market, it is expected that the Spire will sell, not just to people in Chicago, but to people around the world who are eager to live in a Calatrava building. Those who buy are in for a long wait, move in isn't expected until 2012.

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Tags: chicago, chicago spire, condominiums, condos, santiago calatrava, starchitecture